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Friday, November 9, 2018

Sneak Peek: THE PRINCE AND THE BODYGUARD by HJ Perry-Includes Excerpt!

The Prince and the Bodyguard

by H J Perry

Expected publication date: 20th November 2018

ABOUT

“I like my men available now and gone in the morning.”

Oscar is ex army. Currently in security. Future and forever closeted and single.

His love-life can never be more than a series of hookups with men who want the same. No repercussions and no emotional involvement.

Definitely not a client.

But it’s lust at first sight when he meets the ultimate temptation, HRH Prince Tobias.

Oscar was supposed to be guarding that body not getting to know it better.

Intimately.

For a week.

“Seducing the bodyguard was easy. Moving on and forgetting about him was impossible.”

Toby can’t stop thinking about his first time with a man.

The instant attraction between him and the gorgeous bodyguard was impossible to ignore.

With his anything’s-possible attitude, Toby can only see why they should be dating.

In this sizzling high-heat romance two men reassess what they want in their futures.

Among other things this high-heat, low- angst book features:

* A bisexual prince charming.

* The International Year for Indigenous Languages

* A Cornish pasty.

* A very romantic happy ever after.

Excerpt

Oscar

This was not the time for cruising. Nevertheless, Oscar’s eyes did their own thing.

He’d spotted The Guy straight away, or at least his limbs.

Casually dressed in a collared shirt with short sleeves, The Guy’s incredibly toned forearms, and how they led up to more delicious meat, caught Oscar's attention immediately.

If ever he’d like to meet a man who looked like The Guy it would be by chance in a certain type of bar. But not here. Not in an airport. Not when Oscar waited on a client.

The procession flooded outward. Woman. Old man. Child. He knew Tobias wasn't geriatric or too young. He was an adult, and they were much the same age.

His attention flitted back to The Guy with the arms and hungry desire in his eyes.

Eyes that raked up and down Oscar like he was a piece of meat.

And honestly, at a different time and in a different place he’d have welcomed such attention. Subtle changes in his body language would have signaled his interest and invited The Guy over.

Now, Oscar tried to avoid eye contact.

He’d been in the army and faced life-threatening danger, but this one thing defeated him. He couldn’t handle approaches from men in public. It would have been easier if he’d been either straight or out, but he wasn’t one or the other. Deeply in the closet, gaining the lustful attention of men in public places made Oscar very uncomfortable. He didn’t know how to react.

His mouth went dry.

The Guy made his way toward him though, he wasn’t be put off by Oscar looking away.

When the stranger came to a halt, standing right in front of him, Oscar had no choice but to look the man in the eye. Those beautiful come-to-bed eyes. Such expressive eyes that sparkled with warm, friendly humor.

"Hi." The Guy’s voice wrapped around Oscar’s head like a warm scarf in winter. "I’m supposed to meet someone here. Are you, by any chance, with RSVP?"

Prepared to say no and back away, the words caught Oscar by surprise. He coughed to clear his throat. He’d obviously read the situation all wrong.

"Oh um... yes. Prince Tobias?" He must’ve seemed like a fool who’d forgotten his own name and why he was there.

He hadn't been toppled by a dude's looks in a very, very long time. And now, to discover it was the client who had this effect on him, it shook Oscar.

A hand shot out. "A pleasure to meet you," said the prince, that accent of his as charming as anything else about him. It didn’t sound like there was any candy or food of any kind stuck in his mouth.

Oscar never thought of himself a man who’d be disarmed by a sexy accent, but this Prince? His voice was like sweet frosting on a hard-bodied cake.

With ease, Oscar fell into his familiar professionalism role. "Pleased to meet you, sir." Oscar shook the warm hand noticing the soft skin that hadn’t done a day’s hard labor, and he did not imagine the silky soft skin on other parts of the prince's body.

Moisturized hands notwithstanding, Tobias didn’t look like someone who needed a bodyguard. He didn’t project privilege, wealth and royalty. He carried himself like a normal guy albeit one with confidence. As he was tall, broad and fit, he looked as if he’d be able to handle himself in a fight.

Mentally, Oscar slapped himself.

It didn’t do to salivate over a handsome client, or imagine himself wrestling with the same client.

Wrestling in nothing more than underwear. Oh, no.

"I'm Tobias. Please call me Toby," the prince said. Snapping Oscar’s thoughts back from a place he never wanted them to go. This guy made the name Toby seem sexy, something that Oscar had previously considered impossible. "And you are?"

"Prince, Oscar Prince." He’d always thought saying it like that made him sound cool like Bond, James Bond. Usually, though, he only said it like that when he was trying to charm a guy into his bed for the night.

"Prince? That's your name?" The prince laughed.

Oscar gritted his teeth. "Yes. It's a pretty common surname here."

"I’m sure. I never expected to meet another prince in the airport. Did they pick you out for this job because of your name? Like, do RSPV have a sense of humor?"

"Um, yeah." Oscar forced a laugh. "So, if my briefing is correct, I'm to look after you for the next week. A few days in London and then down to Cornwall?"

Tobias nodded. "Isn't it across to Cornwall?"

"Technically it is, but we always say up to London, no matter if your going down." Sh*t. Should not talk about going down with this guy.

"No going down, got it." The prince winked.

"You shouldn't really need security. Especially not in Cornwall. But I shouldn't talk myself out of a job either. So if you're ready I've got a car outside."

"Lead the way."

They set off walking to the short stay VIP car park immediately outside arrivals.

"Having a bodyguard wasn't my idea, no offense intended. It's the CEO back at the family business. He's afraid I'll wander into a dark alley and be shot by rednecks, hence hiring your company."

Oscar must’ve looked blank because Tobias, Toby, instantly explained. "Royalty is the family business, and dear old dad is hands-on as the CEO. We call him king for that reason."

Relaxing a little more, Oscar smiled. A chatty client with a sense of humor seemed a huge improvement on how Oscar had imagined the prince. They just might get along well for the week. "Dark alley rednecks." He scratched his head. "I think you're mixing up your stereotypes and your countries."

"Those were his words, not mine. I'm more than happy to learn the difference." He was friendly. Cordial. And attempting to break down barriers.

Yet, being on the job for Oscar meant stopping at professional conduct, not getting overly friendly. "Come along. Apparently, being your bodyguard also means I'm your chauffeur."

Oscar didn't have to follow the client to the toilet or anything crazy, but his job was to stick close, to drive him around, and sleep in an off room in his hotel suite.

The prince followed his lead without complaint.

When Oscar opened the driver’s door of the security firm’s standard issue, black town car Toby approached the passenger side.

"What’s wrong?"

The prince must have picked up on Oscar’s surprise.

"It's typical for clients to take the back seat. That’s all."

"You're a bodyguard, not a chauffeur. Maybe you can guard my body better if I sit here next to you."

Oscar could do without references to the prince’s body, the client may have been flirting, Oscar wasn’t sure, but he could do without flirting too.

"So, can I call you Oscar? Or is it Mr. Prince?"

"Oscar is fine," he replied without emotion.

"Right. I like informal too. It’s definitely Toby, not so much Tobias and certainly not Your Royal Highness Prince of Europe." He chuckled. "So, Oscar, does a fine strapping chap like yourself have a lady? Kids at home? I noticed there's no ring on your fingers."

Jump right in with personal questions why don’t you?

Oscar couldn't help but notice the way the royal looked at him, like he was some sort of curiosity.

"Company policy forbids personal jewelry."

"So if a nice lady tries to seduce you on the job are you open to offers or already taken?"

"It's basic professionalism, sir." This man was relentless. Had he no shame or reservations about trying to poke through Oscar's personal life?

"Sorry, if you don’t want to talk. Back where I'm from, people chat and joke about these things. I don’t mean to offend you." Tobias held his hands up as a sign of submission. "I don’t want to overstep any boundaries. I’m single, myself, by the way. No kids either."

Why had he said that? Oscar couldn’t figure it. Was this casual conversation about families and home life or was this goddamn client letting him know he was single for a reason? Was he interested?

"Right. You probably won’t want me keeping all the good looking ladies at too great a distance then, when I’m guarding your body."

The prince laughed. An easy, full, hearty laugh.

The laughter was infectious. Oscar smiled too. He couldn’t help it. He enjoyed playful, funny people. Someone who made him laugh would be the type of boyfriend he would have if he could have boyfriends.

"I hope you don't mind me saying, but you seem to speak perfect English with no accent."

"Privileged education. I actually studied here in England for a few years," Tobias replied. "Come on now. You and I both know that there's no threat to my well being. You're a security blanket. Basically, you're here to make my team feel better about my safety while I’m here. But I don’t feel uncomfortable. It’s the other people in the royalty business back home who are worried."

This made Oscar’s smile wider. He wouldn't mind acting in as a blanket and wrap himself around this prince. There were ways he wanted to make Tobias feel better, but damn if any of them were actually legal to do to someone without their permission.

"I have to be alert for any threats to your well being." Mostly, the biggest threat to the prince's well being right now seemed to be Oscar himself.

About the Author

H J Perry writes about people and their relationships, in the romance genre. Aliens are people too, right? She loves to write the unexpected, any LGBTQ pairing, and always a happy ending.

HJP’s also a lifelong campaigner around equality, sexual freedom, and anticensorship issues. Inevitably her political views influence her writing.

Helen lives by the English seaside BUT is reluctantly learning to accept having words translated into American for an international audience. Helen lives with her broadminded partner and three children.When her children are at school she is also a non-fiction writer.

As a reader, she particularly keen on fiction with LGBT characters and lots of laughs. She reads about 10 million words of fiction per year most of it is M/M romance, science fiction, or young adult and often a combination of these.

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